Queens of the Stone Age touched down on Manchester soil after a lengthy six-year hiatus last night - and delivered on their promise to bring an electrifying set with them.

To celebrate "the end of the world", as the US rock legends put it themselves when they announced their European tour, The End is Nero, thousands of people packed into the AO Arena on Tuesday night, united in this anarchic apocalyptic spirit which the band did not let up on.

Adequately warmed up by the post-punk and almost psychedelic London trio, Deep Tan, and a rather shouty and speedy set by Australian punk band, The Chats, the Seattle outfit fronted by Joshua Homme, guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen, bassist, Michael Shuman ('Mikey Shoes'), keyboardist Dean Ferita and drummer, Jon Theodore, burst onto the stage with an immediate electric presence.

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As Smile by Peggy Lee reverberated through the speakers in pitch-black darkness, QOTSA exploded onto the stage with one of their critically acclaimed and all-time fan favourite singles, No One Knows.

This exhilarating energy prevailed throughout the hour-and-a-half-long set as we flicked through the years for a taste of almost all of the band's eight albums, including classics from the early 2000s album, Songs for the Deaf, right through to Rated R, ...Like Clockwork and tracks from their latest album, In Times New Roman, which was released earlier this year.

Cinematic and almost epileptic lighting in various colours harmonised with songs like Smooth Sailing and My God is The Sun, both from the band's 2013 album, while Emotion Sickness brought with it the first of many touching crowd interactions with Josh, who sang the outro a capella to a roar of claps and an audience willing to participate in the sing-along. 

We then heard the intoxicating but slightly slower tempo of If I Had a Tail before treats from the new album, Time & Place and Carnavoyeur, kicked the volume up a notch.

Swinging back to the Rated R era, QOTSA cradled us from a high into a mesmerising and moody hungover stupor for I Think I Lost My Headache - and then the ferocious chainsaw riff of Sick, Sick, Sick fired us right back up again.

For this emotionally raw and intimate segment of the set, the 50-year-old introduced Negative Space as a song about "how much it sucks to go out with me" before turning to talk about the "dark music" inside of the band.

He continued: "Sometimes I'm too afraid to say how dark I feel and how much has been gained and how much has been lost.

"But I think that's why we like coming over and playing for you all because when we turn up the music and turn the lights out, you guys can just be yourselves, you can do whatever you want, you can be whoever you want to be."

I Sat By The Ocean, Make It Wit Chu and Little Sister then closed this carefully curated masterpiece of a line-up.

The encore ensured the audience bounced out of the doors with a special treat - a tour debut of Long Slow Goodbye, followed by Paper Machete and the grand finale, A Song for the Dead, which invited not only a pit opening in the crowd but an impressive drum solo by Jon.

The night was nothing short of phenomenal, with the finale ringing in our ears and our heads on the high ride home. 

Gigs like these put bands like Queens of the Stone Age firmly in the bracket of bucket list bands to see before you die, so if you've struck Download Festival 2024 off your list, I'd wager it's entirely worth going just to witness the mastery of these first-rate legends in the flesh for yourself.

If you have a story, I cover all things Oldham and Manchester from music and food reviews to local business news, education, crime, property, health, community concerns and much more. Please email me at Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk or send me a message on Twitter @Livbridge with your news.